Mowing-machine.



No. 720,262. PATENTBD FEB. 10,1903.

2 J. LATIMER.

MOWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26, 1902.-

N0 MODEL.

UNITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J OIIN W. LATIMER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO DEERING HARVESTERCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MOWlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 720,262, dated February10, 1903. Application filed November 26,1902. Serial No. 132,876. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN W. LATIMER, of Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin 'Mowing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to dividers for mowing-machines, and has for itsobject the furnishing of means that will not only divide and disentanglelodged or fallen grass, but will also so engage the prostrate stalks asto insure their being severed by the cutting apparatus more effectivelythan hereto fore accomplished by any similar device.

I am aware that it is not new to depress the grass in advance of theouter shoe in addition to dividing and disentangling it, and,furthermore, that it is not new to attempt to furnlsh means to raise andsever prostrate stalks that the grassward end of the cutting apparatusoften fails to out.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of my improvement,showing it attached to the outer end of the finger-bar of a mower. Figs.2 and 3 are an end elevation and plan, respectively, of same. section onthe line 4 4 of Fig. 2, showing how the pressure of the divider on thelodged grass raises the ends sufficiently to permit the guards to passthereunder and to insure the knife engaging and severing the prostrategrass. Fig. 5 illustrates a similar view, but with no means for sodepressing the grass immediately in advance of the line of the points ofthe guards.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the finger-bar of a mower, a theguards secured thereto, and A the cutting-blades. B is the outer shoesecured to the said finger-bar, C the grassboard, and c the boltpivotally securing same to the said shoe.

D is the divider, secured forwardly to the shoe B by a lug cl on saiddivider, which is provided with an aperture adapted to receive the pointof the shoe B and secured at therearward. end thereof, preferably by thebolt d.

d is an arm of the divider D, projecting forwardly and upwardly from thepoint of the shoe.

d is a rib preferably integral with and pro- Fig. 4 is a transversejecting downwardly from the divider D at a position somewhat in advanceof the line of the points of the guards a, the lower edge of said ribbeing substantially as low as the bottom of the said shoe, said ribextending some distance rearwardly of the line of the points of the saidguards. This rib d constituting the essential feature of my invention,is placed on the line of the front of the guards and extends forwardlyand rearwardly therefrom for reasons hereinafter more fully explained;It may be stated here, however,

that the function of the rib is topress the stalks of grass against theyielding soil and raise the ends thereof sufficient to enable theguards-to pass under and the cutting apparatus to engage and sever thesame. It necessarily follows, therefore, that this rib must be solocated relative to the points of the guards that its action upon thefallen stalks over which it passes will cause the said stalks to risesufficiently to enable the guards by the time they have advanced to themto pass under and permit the cutting apparatus to sever the said stalks.In order that this action may be continued to insure such engagement ofthe fallen stalks by the cutting apparatus and to further insure stalkslying more or less obliquely with the line of advance of the machinebeing also engaged by r the cutting apparatus, it is necessary that therib should continue for some distance both rearwardly and forwardly fromthe line of the point of the said guards.

The operation of the device may be explained as follows: As the cuttingapparatus advances in its work the arm 61 will divide more or lesscompletely the field from the swath, depending, of course, to Whatextent the grass has lodged or fallen. The stalks of grass that arecompletely prostrate or sufliciently so to lie wholly beneath the pointsof the guards would ordinarily remain uncut; but as the rib d pressesupon such stalks, tending to bear them down into the soft ground orundergrowth, the ends, and particularly the free ends, will risesufficient to enable the guards to pass underneath and allow the cuttingapparatus to sever them. The action of the rib d on fallen stalks isclearly shown in Fig. 4, and the behavior of the down grass in theabsence of such rib is shown in Fig. 5. It is a well-known'fact thatwhen a resilient body, such as an elastic stick or stalk of grass, ispressed at some point intermediate of its length against a yieldingsubstance, as soft soil, the ends on either side of the point ofpressure will tend to rise. Advantage is taken of this fact in myinvention. The rib d pressing the stalks against the soft soil, willcause them to rise, and thus allow the point of the second guard on thefingerbar to pass under such fallen stalks. This action of the said ribon the grass occurs somewhat in advance of the points of the guards,sufficiently in advance to subject the stalks lying oblique to the lineof advance to the action of the said rib before the guard or the pointthereof has passed toa point where it will prevent the said stalks fromrising, and for the same reason the action of the rib on the prostratestalks continues after the line of the points of the guards has reachedthe point of pressure of the rib on the stalks. Other devices pressingthe grass to the ground in advance of the shoe have been made, but not,however, with any definite purpose in View, and, in fact, so far asknown by me they are so far in advance of the points ofthe guards thatthe effect accomplished by me is entirely lost.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

In combination with the cutting apparatus of a mower having fingers anda reciprocating cutting-blade, an outside shoe provided with a forwardlyand upwardly projecting arm, and a rib as one piece with said shoe, saidrib extending downwardly substantially to the bottom of said shoe, theforward edge thereof being somewhat in advance of the line of the pointsof the said guards and extending rearwardly therefrom to a positionsomewhat in the rear of said line of the points of the said guards,substantially as described.

JOHN W. LATIMER.

In presence of J. O. WARNES, T. H. ALFREDS.

